Implementing logic functions with non-magnitude based physical phenomena

ABSTRACT

An n-valued switch with n≧2, with an input enabled to receive a signal in one of n states, an output enabled to provide a signal in one of at least 2 states, under control of a control signal having one of at least 2 states is disclosed. Signals are instances of a physical phenomenon, an instance representing a state. N-valued inverters are also disclosed. Different types of signals are disclosed, including optical signals with different wavelengths, electrical signals with different frequencies and signals represented by a presence of a material. A kit including an n-valued switch is also disclosed.

STATEMENT OF RELATED CASES

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/964,507 filed on Dec. 26, 2007, which is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/686,542 filed on Mar. 15, 2007, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,355,444 issued Apr. 8, 2008, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/000,218, filed on Nov. 30, 2004,entitled SINGLE AND COMPOSITE BINARY AND MULTI-VALUED LOGIC FUNCTIONSFROM GATES AND INVERTERS now U.S. Pat. No. 7,218,144 issued on May 17,2007, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/935,960, filed on Sep. 8, 2004, entitled TERNARY AND MULTI-VALUEDIGITAL SCRAMBLERS, DESCRAMBLERS AND SEQUENCE GENERATORS, which are allhereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, and whichclaim priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/547,683,filed Feb. 25, 2004, which is also incorporated herein by reference.Furthermore, above mentioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/964,507filed on Dec. 26, 2007, claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/954,875 filed on Aug. 9, 2007 which is alsoincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the implementation of logic or switchingfunctions by non-magnitude based physical phenomena. More specificallyit provides novel methods and apparatus to implement a logic state byusing a characteristic of a physical phenomenon that is not based on amagnitude or amplitude of a signal.

Binary logic or binary switching is currently mainly provided inelectronic circuits. The signals representing the states in binary logicare usually magnitude based. Binary logic or switching of course has 2states, which are usually called 0 and 1. The two states are usuallyrepresented by a magnitude of an electric signal, either as a voltage oras a current. Sometimes a magnitude is a phase of a signal. For storagealso the magnitude of a charge is used. For binary logic one of thestates, but usually the 0, is represented as ground or absence ofsignal. A 1 can be represented as for instance 1.5 Volt or 0.5 Volt orwhatever voltage is convenient. The representation of a state by avoltage is not really required, but is commonly used. The 0 can berepresented by another voltage. Sometimes the opposite voltage of theone selected for 1 is used for 0; for instance −1.5 Volt. However often0 Volt or ground or absence of signal is selected as representing a 0state.

It should be clear that in the binary case the magnitude of theelectrical signal determines the state it represents. Use ofrepresenting a signal with a certain frequency as a state is also known.For instance Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) uses 2 frequenciesrepresenting 0s and is in transmission systems.

One also applies Multiple Frequency-Shift Keying (MFSK) in staterepresentation for transmission purposes, representing each of differentand more than 2 states by a frequency. The advantage herein is that onehas to detect the presence or absence of a signal to determine a state.The use of magnitude based signals, such as voltage based representationhas an inherent problem with noise. In detection of an m^(th) voltagelevel one can be off by for instance one level. Thus one may forinstance detect state (m−1) or state (m+1) instead of m. Accordinglywhen a state is ‘sandwiched’ between two other states, potential errorsare more likely.

This aspect is well known in for instance transmission theory. One mayaddress this problem in optimizing the ‘eye’ of the signal andoptimizing the moment of the detection of the presence of a signallevel.

Applying detecting a presence or an absence of one of n signals appearsto be more robust than detecting one of n levels. One actually buysbetter performance by using more resources for detection and by usingmore bandwidth.

In general it is more robust to detect a state of a phenomenon bydetecting the presence or absence of the phenomenon rather than one ofmore than several magnitudes of the same phenomenon. In fact one may saythat the problem is reduced to a plurality of binary detections.However, while multi-valued logic signals implemented by non-magnitudebased physical phenomena are more robust than magnitude basedrepresentations, the implementation of logic functions wherein logicstates are represented by non-magnitude based phenomena are currentlyunknown.

Accordingly novel and improved methods and apparatus for implementingbinary and multi-valued logic or multi-state switching functions andsignals by non-magnitude based physical phenomena are required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the more limited possibilities of the prior art in creatingbinary and n-valued logic functions novel and improved apparatus methodsto create logic circuitry is required.

The general purpose of the present invention, which will be describedsubsequently in greater detail, is to provide novel methods andapparatus which can be applied in the creation of binary andmulti-valued circuitry. Individual symbols may be represented by asignal characterized by an independent instance of a physicalphenomenon. Signals can be of an electrical or optical nature, they mayalso be of a magnetic, quantum-mechanical or any other physicalphenomenon, including a combination of phenomena; they may be of anyvalid distinguishable physical phenomenon, including by the presence orabsence of a material such as a bio-chemical material.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, itis to be understood that the invention is not limited in its applicationto the details of construction and to the arrangements of the componentsor methods as set forth in the following description or illustrated inthe drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of beingpracticed and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understoodthat the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purposeof the description and should not be regarded as limiting.

Binary in the context of this application means 2-valued or 2-state.Multi-valued, n-valued or n-state in the context of this invention meansan integer greater than 2. It is also to be understood that the value ofa state is to indicate as difference with another state. Value in thiscontext unless specifically stated means a state, not a real value.Accordingly an n-state signal means a signal having one of n states. Asignal represents an n-state symbol, and is assumed to be a singleelement, mark or phenomenon. It is known in the art that a singlen-state symbol can be represented by a plurality of p-state symbols.Usually in those cases n-state means radix-n which has a value. Howeverassigning a value is not required.

One object of the present invention is to provide new apparatus toimplement a logic circuit which can process a signal representing asymbol with a logic state.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention an n-valued switchwith n≧2 is provided, comprising a first input enabled to receive afirst signal representing a first of n states, the signal being anindependent instance of a characteristic of a first physical phenomenon,a second input enabled to receive a second signal representing a secondof n states, the second signal being an independent instance of acharacteristic of a second physical phenomenon, and an output enabled toprovide an output signal representing a state whenever the first inputreceives the first signal and the second input receives the secondsignal.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the state of the output signal isrepresented by an independent instance of a characteristic of a thirdphysical phenomenon.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein n>2.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided wherein, an absence of a signal represents not astate.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the first, the second and the third physicalphenomenon are the same physical phenomenon.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the first, the second and the third physicalphenomenon are not all the same physical phenomenon.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the output provides an output signalrepresenting the state of the input signal when the second signalrepresents a first state.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the output provides no signal when thesecond signal does not represent a first state.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the output provides an output signalrepresenting the state of the input signal whenever the second signalrepresents not a first state.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, further comprising an additional input enabled toreceive a third signal representing a third of n states, the thirdsignal being an independent instance of a characteristic of a physicalphenomenon and the output being enabled to provide an output signalrepresenting a state whenever the first input receives the first signal,the second input receives the second signal, and the additional inputreceives the third signal.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the n-state switch is connected to ann-state inverter having an input and an output.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the n-state inverter includes a detector fora first signal on the input and a generator for a second signal on theoutput.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the switch is part of a device whichimplements an n-valued logic function.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein a state is represented by a wavelength of asignal.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein a state is represented by a presence of amaterial.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein a state is represented by a material from agroup consisting of a cell, a virus, an antibody, a chemical, a protein,a peptide, a nucleic acid, an oligosaccharides, a nucleotide, ametabolite, an ion, a carbohydrate, a polysaccharide, a hormone, anantigen, an enzyme, an RNA or a DNA molecule.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the n-state switch is part of a computingdevice.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-valuedswitch is provided, wherein the n-state switch is part of a kit.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention a kit isprovided for implementing an n-state logic device with n≧2, comprising aswitch, the switch including a first input enabled to receive a firstinput signal having one of n states, a state being represented by anindependent instance of a characteristic of a first physical phenomenon,a second input enabled to receive a second signal having one of at leasttwo states, a state being represented by an independent instance of acharacteristic of a second physical phenomenon, and an output enabled toprovide an output signal representing the first input signal wheneverthe second signal has a first state.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a kit isprovided for implementing an n-state logic device with n≧2, wherein n>2.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention a kit isprovided for implementing an n-state logic device with n≧2, wherein thefirst and the second signal are optical signals.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a kit isprovided for implementing an n-state logic device with n≧2, furthercomprising an inverter with an input and an output, including a detectorfor detecting a first signal on the input and a generator for generatinga second signal on the output.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention a kit isprovided for implementing an n-state logic device with n≧2, furthercomprising a manual.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a kit isprovided for implementing an n-state logic device with n≧2, wherein thekit implements an n-valued logic function.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention a kit forimplementing an n-valued logic device with n≧2 is provided, furthercomprising a source capable of generating a signal representing a state.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a kit forimplementing an n-valued logic device with n≧2 is provided, furthercomprising an inverter with an input and an output.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention a kit forimplementing an n-valued logic device with n≧2 is provided, furthercomprising a display.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention a kit forimplementing an n-valued logic device with n≧2 is provided, comprising asignal splitter.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a kit forimplementing an n-valued logic device with n≧2 is provided, furthercomprising a connector.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention a kit forimplementing an n-valued logic device with n≧2 is provided, comprising amanual.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a kit forimplementing an n-valued logic device with n≧2 is provided.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention an n-stateswitch with n≧2 is provided, comprising a first input enabled to receivea first signal being an independent instance of a characteristic of afirst physical phenomenon and representing one of n states, a secondinput enabled to receive a second signal, the second signal being anindependent instance of a characteristic of a second physical phenomenonand representing one of n states, and an output enabled to provide anoutput signal representing the first signal whenever the first inputreceives the first signal and the second input receives the secondsignal being in a first of n states.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an n-stateswitch is provided, wherein the first and the second physical phenomenonare identical.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the presentinvention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood when considered in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a 4-valued function realized with switches andinverters.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an n-valued switch.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a detecting element and a generator element of ann-valued inverter in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an element of an n-valued inverter in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an n-valued inverter in accordance with an aspectof the present invention.

FIG. 6 is another diagram of an n-valued inverter in accordance with anaspect of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a switch in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a switch in accordance with another aspect of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 a is a diagram of a switch in accordance with yet another aspectof the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a switch in accordance with yet another aspect ofthe present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a switch in accordance with yet another aspectof the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a circuit implementing a state depending frommultiple input states in accordance with an aspect of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 is another diagram of a circuit implementing a state dependingfrom multiple input states in accordance with an aspect of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 a is yet another diagram of a circuit implementing a statedepending from multiple input states in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of a device also implementing a logic function inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 13 a is a diagram of a device also implementing a logic function inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of a multi-input logic circuit in accordance withan aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram of a device implementing an n-valued logic functionin accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is another diagram of a device implementing an n-valued logicfunction in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram of a component of a kit for implementing n-valuedlogic in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of another component of a kit for implementingn-valued logic in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram of yet another component of a kit for implementingn-valued logic in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram of yet another component of a kit for implementingn-valued logic in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram of yet another component of a kit for implementingn-valued logic in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram of yet another component of a kit for implementingn-valued logic in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a diagram of yet another component of a kit for implementingn-valued logic in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram of a device implementing a ternary logic functionin accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram of a device implementing a binary logic function inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a diagram of a device implementing a n-valued logic functionbased information retaining device in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention.

FIG. 27 is a diagram of another device implementing a n-valued logicfunction based information retaining device in accordance with an aspectof the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a diagram of yet another device implementing a n-valued logicfunction based information retaining device in accordance with an aspectof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention provide novel implementations ofn-valued with n>2 and binary logic functions by what are callednon-magnitude based physical phenomena. This is intended to mean thateach state is represented by an instance or appearance of a physicalphenomenon that is difficult to confuse with another state for instanceby the effects of noise. One may make a mistake in determining apresence of a state while the state is not present due to the presenceof significant noise. However in most cases under normal circumstancesit should be difficult to confuse the presence of one state with thepresence of another state.

For instance in the case wherein a symbol is represented by anelectrical signal with a frequency f1, and noise with a spectralcomponent in f1 and sufficient amplitude is present, then one may decidethat a symbol in state f1 is present when in actuality it is not. It isassumed however that in operational conditions the detection of thepresence or the absence of symbols in a certain state can be performederror free, for instance by providing each signal with a magnitude inintensity that is sufficiently above the statistically meaningful levelabove occurring noise levels. A magnitude of each signal or symbolrepresenting a state may be identical, so that detection of such asignal involves other physical aspects besides detecting a magnitude. Itmay involve for instance detecting a magnitude at a certain frequency orwavelength.

These aspects may involve the frequency of a signal. They may alsoinvolve electronic spin, wavelength, ionization level, polarization,position, duration, direction, presence of a molecule or an atom or ion,refraction angle or any physical phenomenon that can be detected asbeing meaningful present or absent within occurring environmental noiselevels. For instance a presence of a certain protein may signify anoccurring logic state. Such a presence may be an entirely discreteevent, because under assurance of absolute detection of any presence,there can be no confusion of presence of one protein with the presenceof a difference protein. Clearly confusion is possible in situationswherein occurrence of a certain level or concentration of a singleprotein determines a logic state. Environmental conditions, for instancewhen by change in temperature more material is produced than expected,may lead to inaccurate and wrong decisions. The amount of material maybe considered a magnitude based phenomenon.

As an easy to understand illustrative example optical signals withdifferent wavelengths will be used to represent different logic stateswill be provided. A related method and apparatus to switch between logicstates will also be provided. A similar approach will be provided forelectrical signals. A method using proteins and biomaterials asindicators of a logic state and a related switching mechanismimplementing a truth table will also be provided.

In an earlier invention as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,218,144 issuedon May 15, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, an n-state switch is provided having an input enabled toreceive a signal representing one of n states, an output enabled toprovide a signal having one of n states and a control input enabled toreceive a signal representing one of n states. When the signal on thecontrol input represents a first state then the output provides asignal. When the signal on the control input represents not a firststate then depending on the selected implementation of the switch one oftwo things can happen. The first thing is that in that case no signalwill be provided on the output. The second thing that may happen if thefirst thing does not happen is that a signal will be provided on theoutput that is different from the signal on the input. As a furthervariation one may change conditions so that a signal will always appearon the output when the control input does not receive a signalrepresenting a first state.

As an aspect of the present invention a binary and an n-state switch isprovided that switches a signal from an input to an output under controlof a control signal wherein a signal representing a logic state is aninstance of a physical phenomenon and wherein determination of a stateis not dependent on a relative magnitude of the signal. In other words astate is detected when a signal is detected. The magnitude, such as anamplitude or an intensity of the signal once above a minimum detectionlevel, does not matter for determining the state.

An n-state switch then has an input which is enabled to receive ann-state signal which can assume one of n states or represents a symbolhaving one of n states. The n-state switch also has a control inputenabled to receive an n-state signal which can assume one of n states orrepresents a symbol having one of n states. The n-state switch has anoutput which can provide an n-state signal which can assume one of nstates or represents a symbol having one of n states. The output of then-state switch provides a signal identical or reversibly related to thestate of the signal on the input when the state of a signal on thecontrol input is in a first of n states. What is provided on the outputof the n-state switch when the signal on the control input is not in afirst state depends on how states are represented. For instance it maybe that absence of signal represents a state. In that case the signal onthe output will assume a state equivalent to the state corresponding toabsence of signal on the input when the state of the control input isnot a first state. It may also be that absence of signal is just that:absence of signal and does not represent a state. Also in that case thesignal on the output will assume a state equivalent to the statecorresponding to absence of signal on the input when the state of thecontrol input is not a first state. This means that a signal on theoutput in that case will not represent one of n states.

Many further variations of a switch are possible certainly when oneworks with n states. These variations are contemplated and are inessence a permutation of the earlier description.

Implementing an N-Valued Truth Table

How to implement n-valued and binary 2-input/single output truth tablesby using gates and inverters was disclosed by the inventor in U.S.Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 10/935,960, filed on Sep. 8,2004, entitled TERNARY AND MULTI-VALUE DIGITAL SCRAMBLERS, DESCRAMBLERSAND SEQUENCE GENERATORS, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,218,144, issued on May 15,2007 entitled SINGLE AND COMPOSITE BINARY AND MULTI-VALUED LOGICFUNCTIONS FROM GATES AND INVERTERS and in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/686,542, filed Mar. 15, 2007, entitled SINGLE AND COMPOSITEBINARY AND MULTI-VALUED LOGIC FUNCTIONS FROM GATES AND INVERTERS whichare all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

As an illustrative example a 4-valued truth table, determining a4-valued adder Add 4 over GF(4) is provided.

Add4 0 1 2 3 0 0 1 2 3 1 1 0 3 2 2 2 3 0 1 3 3 2 1 0

This truth table can be implemented by the circuit as shown in diagramin FIG. 1. The circuit implements the columns of the truth table. Thecircuit has two inputs 100 and 101. Input 101 is split into 4 channels:102, 103, 104 and 105. Each cannel is an implementation of a column ofthe truth table of Add4: channel 102 implements first column [0 1 2 3];channel 103 implements [1 0 3 2]; channel 104 implements [2 3 0 1]; andchannel 105 implements [3 2 1 0]. It should be clear that Add4 iscommutative and columns can also mean rows in this case. Column [0 1 23] is identity so no change of input is required, column [1 0 3 2] isimplemented by inverter 106, column [2 3 0 1] is implemented by inverter107 and column [3 2 1 0] is implemented by inverter 108.

Inverters can be represented by mapping of a first n-valued vector withn elements to a second vector with n elements. One can represent vectorsas columns or as rows. In column form the 4-valued identity inverter andinverters 106, 107 and 108 can be represented as:

identity Inv 106 Inv 107 Inv 108 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 1 1 1 0 1 3 1 2 2 → 2 2→ 3 2 → 0 2 → 1 3 3 3 2 3 1 3 0

One may also represent an inverter as row vector. A 4-valued identityinverter may then represented as [0 1 2 3]→[0 1 2 3]. Because aninverter may assumed to be described starting from an identity [0 1 2 3]one can reduce describing an inverter as the resulting vector.Accordingly in row vector representation Inverter 106 is then [1 0 3 2].

FIG. 1 further has 4 gates: 109, 110, 111 and 112. Each gate has anumber in it. Gate 109 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2 as 200. Gate200 has an input 201, a control input 202 and an output 203. Thehorizontal line inside the gate symbol means that the gate is conductingfrom input 201 to output 203 when the control input has the stateindicated by the number inside the gate symbol. In all other states ofcontrol input 202 the input 201 is insulated from output 203. In FIG. 2the number inside the gate symbol is 0. Accordingly the input 201 isconducting to the output 203 when the control input has state 0. Theoutput is insulated from the input when the control input is not instate 0.

A vertical line inside the symbol means the opposite. Input and outputare insulated for a certain state of the control input and conducting toeach other for all other states of the control input. Or more formal: ann-state has an input enabled to receive a signal having one of n-states,a control input enabled to receive a signal having one of n-states andan output enabled to provide a signal having one of n-states. The signalon the output will have a state identical or reversibly related to thestate of the signal on the input when the signal on the control input isnot in a first state. The signal on the output will be in a stateidentical to absence of signal at the input.

One may say that a switch is conducting when the control input has acertain state. Conducting in the context of the present disclosure meansthe output assuming the same state as the input. Further morenon-conducting or insulating may have two different meanings, dependingon the meaning of absence of signal. Absence of signal may represent astate. In that case non-conducting or insulated means automaticallyassuming the state represented by absence of signal. In other casesinsulated or non-conducting means that an output has an absence ofsignal and no logical state is implied. Accordingly the term‘conducting’ is related to having the same state. It will be shown laterthat input and outputs may be presented by different phenomena; forinstance by an optical signal at the input and an electrical signal atthe output. In physical sense there cannot be a conducting of signals.However in a logical sense when the optical signal at the inputrepresents the same state as an electrical signal at the output one maystill say in the context of the present invention that the input isconducted to the output.

One can then interpret the diagram of FIG. 1 as: input 100 may have oneof 4 states. Depending on the state of the signal provided on input 100one of the channels 102, 103, 104 or 105 is conducting from input 101 tooutput 113. Accordingly the output 113 provides a signal that depends onthe signal received on input 101 and depending on the conducting channelis unmodified if channel 102 was conducting or is modified by one of theinverters 106, 107 or 108, each of the channels implementing a column ina truth table if one of the respective channels was enabled. AccordinglyFIG. 1 implements a 4-valued truth table.

The next step is to introduce state detectors and state generators toimplement no-magnitude based state inverters. Magnitude based logicinverters are known. For instance a ternary magnitude based electronicternary inverter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,133,754 issued October17 to Olson. Non-magnitude based inverters may be novel.

As a first illustrative example FIG. 3 provides a diagram of a stateconverter or inverter wherein a state may be represented as anon-magnitude based signal. Non-magnitude based herein means that thepresence of such a signal can be detected unambiguously but is notdependent on a magnitude apart from a minimum detectable level toconstitute a state. Once the presence can be detected above a minimumlevel lev₀ it does not matter what the level is. For practical reasonsone may want to limit the maximum level of a system to prevent damaginga sensor, prevent saturation or other adverse effects. However forlogical purposes it does not matter if the detected signal is lev₀ orfor instance 25lev₀ as both will represent the same state.

Accordingly an element of an n-valued state inverter can be a detector300 with an input 301 and an output 302. The input 301 receives a signalrepresenting an n-valued logic state. The number inside the detectorsymbol provides the state for which detection is enabled. In the exampleof FIG. 3 a detector 300 can detect a signal representing state 0received on input 301. The signal on output 302 provides a signal whichcan have two states: a first state (for instance absence of signal) whenthe detected signal does not represent state 0 in this example. A secondstate of the signal provided on 302 may be a state HIGH which indicatesthat a signal representing state 0 in this example was detected. In oneexemplary embodiment the detector can be an optical detector tuned todetecting a certain wavelength. For instance light with a wavelength inthe range of red light may represent the state 0. A broadband lightdetector with a red filter may be used as a state 0 detector. Assumingthat for instance blue and green represent other states and perhaps IRlight a fourth state, the detector 300 will only provide a level HIGH,when red light is received. One may increase the number of states forinstance represented by optical signals by using narrow band detectorsand filters for wavelengths representing specific states. Opticalsensors, tuned detectors and optical filters are widely available in thecurrent marketplace.

A second element in the inverter is the state generator 303. Applyingthe optical example, the generator may be an optical source such as aLED or a tuned laser which will provide a light signal of a specificwavelength or bandwidth around a certain wavelength when activated. Thelight source 303 may also be a broadband light source with a specificfilter to create an optical signal with a preferred wavelengthrepresenting a logical state.

A state generator 303 is activated by a switch or event 304. The switchor event 304 is activated when the output 302 of detector 300 provides asignal HIGH. In the optical example this may mean that a signal HIGH on302 closes the switch 304 and provides a power from power source 305which enables generator 303 to generate a signal on output 306. In theexample a 2 is inside the symbol of generator 303 which means that asignal is generated which provides a signal representing state 2. Theswitch or event 304 may be configured in such a way that it opens anddisconnects the enabler such as a power source when the signal on 302 isnot HIGH.

One element of an inverter may then be represented by FIG. 4 as 400 withinput 401 and output 402. This diagram means that the signal on 402represents state 2 when the signal on 401 represents state 0. When asignal on 401 represents states other than 0 no signal is provided on402.

A complete reversible 4-valued inverter representing inverter 107 ofFIG. 1 is shown in diagram in FIG. 5. One can easily check that FIG. 6represents the same inverter of FIG. 5 for the case wherein state 0 isrepresented by absence of signal.

It is pointed out that positioning in FIG. 1 of a gate after or behindan inverter is required in the case wherein absence of signal representsa logic state. However when absence of signal does not represent a logicstate a gate may also be positioned in front or before an inverter, asabsence of signal should not generate an output signal.

The construction of a gate or switch for conducting or stopping a signalproviding a state will be provided next, again using an optical signalfor an illustrative example. There are several ways to realize such aswitch. In a first embodiment an optical switch may assumed to have abroad enough bandwidth to conduct any of the signals representing astate when the switch is in a conducting position. This is illustratedin FIG. 7. An optical switch 700 has an optical input 701 and an output702 providing an optical signal that is detectable. The switch 700 has amechanism under control of an optical signal provided on control input703. The control signal may be all optical, or it may be an electricalsignal that is generated from detecting an optical signal. The presenceof the correct optical signal that is provided to 703 will make theswitch 700 conducting. For instance 700 may be a micro electromechanicalsystem (MEMS) device, wherein for instance a small mirror is switched.When the correct control signal is present the mirror is positioned insuch a way that a conducting optical path 704 is created from input 701to output 702. When the correct control signal is not present then aninterrupted path 705 is created and output 705 receives no opticalsignal.

One can make 700 all optical, or electro-optical. For instance underinfluence of an electronic signal derived from an optical signal one maychange transmission properties, including polarization or refraction ofan optical path.

A possible electro-optical switch is shown in FIG. 8. Each opticalsignal representing a state has a detector and a generator forgenerating the signal representing the state. The generator forproviding the optical signal representing the logic state requires as afirst activating signal the signal HIGH from the detector. However toactivate the generator in this case also the control signal has to bepresent. In this case the optical signal representing state 2.Accordingly the activation path for a generator is only enabled when anoptical signal representing state 2 is detected by a detector andgenerates a signal HIGH which closes a switch. So only if an opticalsignal representing state 0 is received upon input 801 in FIG. 8, and anoptical signal representing state 2 is received on a control input is anoptical signal representing state 0 provided on output 802 of FIG. 8.While several optical-electrical and electrical-optical transformationstake place the diagram of FIG. 8 represents an optical switch wherein aninput has the same state as an output when a control input is in acertain state. Clearly there is no real physical optical conduction from801 to 802 in this example. However as stated earlier conduction betweenan input and output may assumed to have occurred when both input andoutput have a signal representing the same state. This may be apparentwhen input and output signals are represented by the same signal: forinstance red light representing state 1.

Looking from the outside when red light goes in and red light goes outit appears to make no difference if some translation mechanism wasinvolved. It still looks like there is conduction of light. However onemay have for instance different wavelength of light representing thesame state. Or one can have different types of signals (for instancelight in and electrical signal out) which represent a same state. Alsoin those cases one may say that a switch is conducting when input andoutput state are the same.

FIG. 8 a shows a variant of the diagram of FIG. 8. Herein the channelthat detects state 0, when activated will generate state 1. The channeldetecting state 1 when activated will generate state 2, etc. In such acase a switch and an inverter are incorporated into one device.Accordingly one should adapt the description of an n-state switch as: ann-state switch has an input enabled to receive or receive and detect asignal having one of n states, a control input enabled to receive or toreceive and detect a signal having one of n states, and an output, anoutput enabled to activate a signal having one of n states when thesignal on the control input is in one of n states.

The optical case is presumably easy to visualize. One may assume asanother illustrative example the components to be electronic componentswhere a detector is an electronic frequency dependent filter with avoltage detector. A generator may be for instance an oscillator that isswitched on from a power source.

FIG. 9 shows a state detector 900 and generator 906 for an illustrativeembodiment wherein a logic state is represented by a signal of apre-determined frequency. Such a signal may be inputted on input 901 ofa bandpass filter 902. Assume the signal to represent a state 0. Assumefurther that only a signal representing state 0 will be passed by thefilter 902 and that all other signals representing states 1, 2 and 3being the remaining states of a 4-valued logic will be rejected to anundetectable level by a detector connected to the output of the filter.Such a detector may be for instance a rectifier 903 followed by a leveldetector 904. The level detector 904 provides for instance an absence ofsignal when no signal representing state 0 was present at input 901 anda level HIGH when a signal representing state 0 was present at input901. It would be clear to a person skilled in the art that a signalrepresenting state 0 must have a minimum amplitude to make the set-uppractical. Beyond being sufficiently above noise level and above minimumdetection level it should not matter how large the signal amplitude is.Detection of the presence or the absence of a signal here described arewell known.

A generator 906, which may be a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) canbe connected to a power source 907 through a switch 908 to activate theVCO 906 and provide output 909 with the signal generated by the VCO.Assume that power source 907 makes 906 to generate a signal thatrepresents logic level 2. This signal has a different frequency than asignal representing state 0. Switch 908 is activated by the signalprovided on output 905. When output 905 provides a signal HIGH then theswitch 908 is closed and the power source 907 activates the VCO, causinga signal representing state 2 to be provided on output 909. When output905 has absence of signal, then the switch 908 is open and the powersource is disconnected from the VCO and no signal is provided on 909.

One can represent the combination of filter/detector and VCO generatorsymbolically as shown in FIG. 4. Accordingly one may create a 4-stateinverter as shown in FIG. 5 that is not magnitude dependent but dependsfrom the frequency of signals.

A gate or switch that will conduct from input to output when a controlinput is in a certain state for the case wherein a logic state is anelectrical signal of a certain frequency is provided in FIG. 10. Hereina filter 1006 followed by a detector 1007 determines the presence of asignal representing state 2 in this illustrative example. If such asignal is present it is passed through the filter 1006 to a rectifierand a level detector 1007 which will generate a signal HIGH on a controlinput 1003 if a signal above a certain minimum is detected. If 1003 isprovided with signal HIGH a switch 1000 will be put in position 1004,which may conduct an input 1001 electrically to an output 1002, puttingoutput 1002 in the same logical state as input 1001. When no signalrepresenting state 2 was detected on the control input 1003 then theswitch 1000 will be in open position 1005 and output 1002 will haveabsence of signal, which may or may not be a logic level. In that caseoutput 1002 may be put to ground or 1002 may have an infinite impedancepreventing a floating level of the output 1002.

A signal or a phenomenon to be detected has to have some magnitude, suchas an amplitude, or mass or intensity. However the magnitude does notplay a role in differentiating between states. In order to make surethat magnitudes do not play a role one should make sure that a selecteddetector which is tuned to a certain state is not able to detect adifferent state, no matter how large its magnitude is. All within reasonof physical limitations. Accordingly a state, being one of n states canbe represented by a physical phenomenon having a characteristic, thephysical phenomenon being able to occur in n distinguishable instancesof a characteristic wherein the characteristic of a firstdistinguishable instance of the phenomenon cannot be added to thecharacteristic of a second distinguishable instance of the phenomenon tocreate a third instance of the phenomenon. Or in other words eachdistinguishable instance has no detectable relation of itscharacteristic with the characteristic of another distinguishableinstance of the same phenomenon.

A state being an independent instance of a characteristic of a physicalphenomenon means that a first instance of a characteristic of a physicalphenomenon occurring at the same time as a second instance of acharacteristic of a physical phenomenon will NOT create by using linearmeans a third instance of a characteristic of a physical phenomenon. Forinstance if a first instance of a characteristic of a physicalphenomenon is light with a first wavelength and a second instance of acharacteristic of a physical phenomenon is light with a secondwavelength different from the first wavelength then just linear addingthe two states will merely provide two states. If the first and thesecond wavelength are identical then adding of the two states willgenerate the same state. This is different from dependent instances. Forinstance if a first state is represented by a signal of 1 Volt and asecond state is represented by a signal of 2 Volt then addition of thetwo signals will create a signal of 3 Volt, assuming that no limiter isapplied. A signal of 3 Volt may represent a third state. Further moreadding two signals of both 1 Volt will generate a signal of 2 Volt,which represented a second state. Accordingly a voltage in the contextof a linear circuit is not an independent instance of a characteristicof a physical phenomenon.

For instance one can have a first molecule that is attracted to areceptor and a second molecule that is not attracted to a receptor.There is no linear relation between the two instances or molecules. Anelectrical signal having a frequency of 100 Hz and a second electricalsignal having a frequency of 3000 Hz do not create a signal of 3100 Hzunless signals are combined by some mixing or non-linear device. If onetakes a narrow enough filter around 100 Hz, then one will not be able todetect a signal of 3000 Hz with such a filter.

Accordingly one may designate occurrences of a phenomenon in differentinstances of a characteristic (such as frequency, wavelength) and thatare not magnitude dependent on each other and can be differentiated fromeach other as independent instances of a characteristic. A signal havinga state in that context is the physical phenomenon having an instance ofthe characteristic. Accordingly an electrical signal having a frequencyis a signal that can represent a state, and a beam of light having awavelength of red light is a signal that can represent a state. An ionhaving a charge may also be a signal that represents a state. And amaterial such as a protein that can be detected or attracted by areceptor can also be a signal that represents a state. Accordingly allthe signals in the above examples can represent a state.

The ability to detect a single state independent of a second signal hasa positive side effect. One can actually generate as a result of a statedetection two or more states that will not interfere with each other.One may call an instance of a characteristic of a physical phenomenonindependent when two independent instances can not form a thirdindependent instance within an apparatus. Independence also means thatwhen a first independent instance represents a state and is combinedwith normal noise like environmental circumstances it can not form asecond independent instance that forms a state.

Non-Traditional N-Valued Functions

In general one may assume that an n-valued logic function (including abinary function) is represented by a 2-input/single output n by n truthtable. Practically most logic circuits use 2 input single outputfunctions as building blocks. In practice it is also known that actualcircuits are almost never strictly 2 input/single output. In most casesan Integrated circuit (IC) is multi-input/multi-output. Using a2-input/single output function is a convenient way to work withrelatively simple and re-usable components. For instance the knownKarnugh diagram is a truth table with more than 2 variables, and withnot all inputs being used and of which an output state can be a don'tcare state.

Inverters can be convenient to realize all possible logic states for onechannel at a time. A channel is enabled by an n-valued switch with acontrol input. If it is not possible or practical to implement allstates of a complete inverter it may be a better approach to implement asingle n-valued output state by a plurality of n-valued switches. Anillustrative example is provided in diagram in FIG. 11. Assume that thestate 2 will be generated when signals provided on three inputs are 0, 1and 3. Such an output state may be part of a more complicated 3 input4-valued function. It may also be that the function generates no outputsignal for any other input combination. The output can be realized byhaving a state generator 1104 for state 2, which may be a wavelength ora protein. The state generator is activated by a source 1100, which isonly enabled on the generator when 3 series switches are conducting atthe same time. This only happens when the control inputs 1101, 1102 and1103 to their respective switches have the appropriate signals to makethe switches conducting or provide the same signal at the output asprovided on the input. One may interpret the three switches beingconducting as enabling a source to a generator.

It is shown in diagram in FIG. 12 that as before switches may be enabledby a detecting a signal by a detector; the detector providing a signalHIGH that will close the specific switch. One can thus make a generatedstate dependent from a plurality of input states. One may modify theconditions for generating the output state. For instance FIG. 12 a showsthat a state 2 will be generated if a first input state is 0 and eithera second input state is 1 or a third input state is 3. Also otherconditions are possible and are fully contemplated.

It should be clear that any binary and multi-valued state can berealized from detector enabled switches, a state generator and a sourceto power or enable the state generator. This allows creating almost anystate in n-valued and binary logic from switches and generators. In manycases it will however require that all states, including the 0 state,are represented by a signal and that no state is represented by absenceof signal. This method is particularly effective when a state isrepresented by an independent instance of a characteristic of a physicalphenomenon.

In general one tries to minimize the number of states. For instance ann-valued truth table has at most n different states. When one has twodifferent n-valued functions or binary functions it is generally assumedthat equivalent states have equivalent representations. That is: assumea first function generates a state 2 which is represented by a signal. Asecond n-valued function that also generates a state 2 is generallyexpected also to be represented by a same signal. The reason is thatoutput signals of a function are often again input signals for a newfunction. Also magnitude based signals make it almost impossible toassign and transmit and detect different signals representing a samestate. The aspect of transmitting different states over one channel, orstate multiplexing, is much simpler if states are being represented byindependent signals. Because of their independence such signals can betransmitted simultaneously without interfering with each other.

This ability to have multiple signals using a channel at the same timeis known and is called multiplexing. Known multiplexing methods are:wavelength multiplexing, time division multiplexing and frequencydivision multiplexing. Another form of multiplexing is independentmaterial multiplexing, wherein different materials that will notinterfere or react with each other is transported through a channel.

Bio-sensors are known for detecting at least three instances of abiomaterial of a group which may include a cell, a virus, an antibody, achemical, a protein, a peptide, a nucleic acid, an oligosaccharides, anucleotide, a metabolite, a drug, an ion, a carbohydrate, apolysaccharide, a hormone, an antigen, an enzyme, an RNA or a DNAmolecule are known. Detection of such a material may be achieved bytransductions with electrochemical, field-effect transistor, opticalabsorption, fluorescence or interferometric devices. Detection of abiomaterial creates an optical, an electrical or a chemical signal thatmay be further detected amplified and transformed into for instance anelectrical signal.

One material that acts both as a state and a channel is Transfer RNA.Transfer RNA is a small RNA chain that transfers a specific amino acid.It has sites for amino-acid attachment and an anticodon region for codonrecognition that binds to a specific sequence on the messenger RNA chainthrough hydrogen bonding. Accordingly RNA molecules provide both arepresentation of a state, a channel for multi-state multiplex transportand for unique detection of a state. Accordingly RNA molecules enableimplementation of an n-valued and binary logic function.

Accordingly the presence of a detectable material including abiomaterial may serve as a logic state. Using a biomaterial as anillustrative example: After detection of a specific biomaterial or aspecific state a generator may release another detectable material thatserves as a state. Different embodiments exist for releasing a materialin response to for instance an electrical material or in response todetecting a material. Devices that can release biomaterials in responseto a signal originating from a biosensor are for instance disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,797,898 issued on Aug. 25, 1998 to Santini Jr. et al.which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Othermolecular release or delivery systems are also known. For instance U.S.Pat. No. 7,104,517 to Derand et al. issued on Sep. 12, 2006 and which isincorporated herein by reference discloses polymer valves which can openor close micro-channels to micro-chambers under for instance influenceof an electric field. Accordingly in response to an activating signalone can thus release at least one of three instances of a biomaterial ofa group which may include a cell, a virus, an antibody, a chemical, aprotein, a peptide, a nucleic acid, an oligosaccharides, a nucleotide, ametabolite, a drug, an ion, a carbohydrate, a polysaccharide, a hormone,an antigen, an enzyme, an RNA or a DNA.

Having provided a detection as well as a generating mechanism forbiomaterials thus in accordance with an aspect of the present inventionan n-state switch can be implemented.

Detectors of bio-materials including DNA detectors are widely known. Forinstance Affymetrix offers arrays of detectors in its GeneChip®technology. A further example of detectors of proteins and peptides isprovided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,669 to Li et al. issued on Nov. 30, 2004which is incorporated herein by reference. One can thus enable a switchwith an input to detect a first material with a first bio-sensor, acontrol input with a second bio-sensor to detect a second material andan output with a chip enabled to release a material that represents thesame state as the first material or a different state when the secondbio-sensor detects the second material.

In one embodiment of a material representing a logic state one mayassume that a channel is an open channel and that the materialrepresenting a first state can reach the detector of an input of aninverter and a second material representing a second state can reach adetector of the control input. In that case different materials may haveto represent a same logic state.

Separation of channels may be formed by a membrane which will separatematerials to one side and another side. A sensor may be embedded in themembrane to detect a material on one side of the membrane and initiaterelease of a material on the other side of the membrane. A channel maybe a fluid which contains materials and allows movement of materialsfrom one place to another. A sensor may detect a material and remain inthe state of the detected material until the detector is reset or amaterial in the fluid neutralizes or washed away the material. Aninternal signal from a detector may also reset a state, either byreleasing a material or by rendering an area of the detector inactivefor a period of time.

The use of materials such as biochemical materials may require havingdifferent materials represent the same logic state. As an example thediagram of FIG. 13 is used. Assume that a device has to generate a state0 when 2 different inputs have a state 0. Assume that the environment isfor instance a fluid that carries the input materials and that will haveto carry the output material. In that case a distinction has to be madebetween a material representing state 0 on input 2901 and a materialrepresenting state 0 on input 2902. Further more if all materials in theenvironment can reach the inputs 2901 and 2902 then one may need thematerial generated on output 2903 representing a state 0 to be distinctfrom the other materials if feedback is undesirable. One solution may beto physically separate inputs by using a separation. This is shown inFIG. 13 a wherein a separation 3001 which may be a membrane is providedto separate for instance the inputs from the output. One may alsoprovide for instance a separation such as a membrane between the twoinputs 2901 and 2902 thus potentially allowing the same material torepresent the same state at an input.

In FIG. 13 the device 2904 may be a biosensor enabled to detect a firstmaterial; the device 2905 may be a biosensor enabled to detect a secondmaterial and device 2906 is a device that can release a material from amicro-chamber on a chip as disclosed in response to a signal inaccordance with earlier cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,898.

Accordingly it has been shown that an n-state switch has been enabled,the n-state switch having at least a first input enabled to detect thepresence of a signal being in a first of n states; a control inputenabled to detect the presence of a signal being in a second of nstates; and an output, the output enabled to provide a signalrepresenting a third of n-states when the at least first input is in thefirst state, and the control input is in the second state; and then-state switch is disabled to provide a signal in a third state wheneither the first input is not in the first state or the control input isnot in the second state or when the first input is not in the firststate and the control input is not in the second state.

The ability to distinguish an occurrence of a single state independentlyfrom the occurrence of another state has an additional positive sideeffect. One can actually generate as a result two states that will notinterfere with each other. This can lead to some unusual but very usefulconfigurations. FIG. 14 shows in diagram an illustrative example, havinga device 1401 with three inputs and one output 1406 and a device 1402with 2 inputs and one output 1407. An output of the device may have thesame logic state in an n-valued logic, however a state generated bydevice 1401 may be represented by a different independent representationas the same state generated by device 1402.

Because the representations are independent one can transport both overthe same channel 1405. This allows a target device to have inputs thatare sensitive to different representation of states. A target device1403 may have two inputs of which an input 1408 is only sensitive tooutput signals of device 1401. A target device 1404 may have 4 inputs ofwhich an input 1409 is sensitive to the output 1406 and input 1410 issensitive to the output 1407.

It is common to have a computer work under a clock signal. A clocksignal may determine which functions are active and which part of memoryis read from or written to and may determine other functions. A clocksignal, assumed to mean making a function active or inactive, formaterials for instance for proteins may be provided by modulators whichmay make proteins active or inactive. Such modulators are for instancedisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,953,656 to Jacobson et al. issued on Oct.11, 2005 and which is incorporated herein by reference.

The herein disclosed aspect of the present invention to implement abinary or n-state switch with bio-materials that may have recognition,modifying, generating and/or modulating properties. There is a broadfield of Biomolecular or DNA computing that is concerned withcomputation problems. The area of creating basic biomolecular n-stateswitches that can be used to implement specific n-state functionsappears to be limited. One example of implementing binary logicfunctions such as OR, AND and NAND in DNA sequences is provided by U.S.Patent Application Publication 20060051838 to Hwa et al. published onMar. 9, 2006. However its approach is different from aspects providedherein.

A Kit for Independent State Logic Representation

Implementing an n-valued or a binary logic function by using staterepresentation by independent instances of a logic state is unknown tomost people. Accordingly it would be useful to provide embodiments thatwill assist persons to learn about logic. Accordingly a series ofembodiments are provided that will demonstrate n-valued logic and binarylogic implementation and allow persons to build n-valued and binarycircuitry.

An exemplary embodiment in 3-valued or ternary logic and one in binarylogic will be provided. It should be clear that such embodiments canalso be provided in 4-valued and any other n-valued logic, includingbinary logic, which are fully contemplated.

As a further illustrative examples embodiments will be provided thatwill represent logic states as light in the visible spectrum. Theadvantage is that this will provide a directly visible and alsodecorative representation that allows a person to directly observe logicstates and logic state changes.

As a first example an assembled ternary logic kit is provided, whichshows the working of a single ternary logic function. A diagram of oneassembled kit 1500 is shown in FIG. 15. The kit comprises light sources1501 and 1502. In this case a source is a ternary source. Absence ofsignal will not represent a state in this example. Accordingly thesources 1501 and 1502 may comprise three different light sources such asa red, a green and a blue LED. The source 1501 provides the controlsignal for ternary switches 1515, 1516 and 1511. The source 1501,enabled to provide signals having one of 3 colors is guided into awaveguide 1505 by a combiner 1503. The waveguide 1505 is preferably anoptical fiber that can conduct red, blue and green light. All otheroptical connections are also assumed to be optical fiber in thisillustrative example. Further more as another aspect of the presentinvention the fibers may be provide substantial light scattering ordispersion, as to illuminate the whole fiber and make the light pathvisible. Certainly in an assembled kit that is relatively small the lossdue to scattering still leaves enough light power to be detected at theend of the fiber.

The source 1502 which can also provide three different states in red,blue and green colors is entered by combiner and splitter 1504 in 3different channels with inverters 1506, 1507 and 1508. An inverter canbe a reversible inverter; it can also be a not reversible inverter. Aninverter can also be an identity inverter, which is of course not aninverter as it passes the states unmodified. Each channel receives thesame color light from source 1502, however it may invert the incominglight color into a different color light. After leaving the inverter thelight will come to a switch. In general only one of the three switcheswill be enabled to let pass the light. This depends on the state of thecontrol signal coming from source 1501.

Assume for the present example that the signal provided by 1501represents state 2. Accordingly switch 1511 will be conducting and 1515and 1516 will be non-conducting. The signal conducted by 1511 will reachfinal state display 1513 which may be a detector and has for instancethree LEDS of which one will represent the state of the signal providedon the output of switch 1511.

Switches 1511, 1515 and 1516 may be MEMS switches which conduct lightfrom input to output. Switches 1511, 1515 and 1516 may also be compositeswitches as explained in for instance FIG. 8 wherein light detected by adetector enables a generator, in this case generating the same lightcolor. One may combine inverter 1506 and switch 1515 to save componentsto obtain the same input/output configuration of the channel with thisswitch. The same applies to inverter 1507 and switch 1516 and toinverter 1508 with switch 1511.

One may include with 1500 a power source such as a battery. One may alsoinclude a circuit which will step light sources 1501 and 1502 throughall their states and may run autonomously. A timer may be included thattimes the stepping period and may be set by a user from very fast downto very slow. Further more switches may be provided that allow a user toset manually a state for 1501 and 1502. Such switches may be forinstance touch sensitive membranes. They may also be push buttons or anyother switch that would enable controlling a source of light. Furthermore a power switch may be provided that switches the assembled kit onor off.

FIG. 16 provides as an aspect of the present invention an assembled kitwherein the signal that determines an output state for instance on adisplay 1601 is provided on an output 1602.

FIG. 17 provides as an aspect of the present invention a connectingfiber that can be part of a kit with a body 1700 and a connecting end1701. The connecting end 1701 can connect with output 1602 of FIG. 16.

An optical connector that can be part of a kit is provided as an aspectof the present invention in FIG. 18. The optical connector has an input1801. It has at least one output 1802. An output 1803 is also shown.Outputs 1802 and 1803 provide the same signal as if they are connectedto input 1801 by a splitter, which is not shown but present. Theconnector may also have more outputs that are all connected to theinput.

FIG. 19 is a diagram of a connector that is an active variant of FIG.18. The connector as provided as an aspect of the present invention inFIG. 19 also has an input 1901 and two outputs 1902 and 1903. However inaddition it has a repeater 1904. This repeater detects a signal andprovides a refreshed signal in the same state to an output.

Also provided as an aspect of the present invention is a series ofternary inverters as shown in diagram in FIG. 20. An inverter has atleast one input 2001 and an output 2002. An inverter can receive on aninput an optical signal being red, blue or green. The inverter changesthe output according to a ternary inverter and provides an opticalsignal in one of the colors red, blue or green on at least one output2002. An inverter may perform for example the inversion [red blue green]to [blue green red]. So if the input was red the output is blue; if theinput was blue, the output is green; and if the input was green theoutput is red. An inverter may realize any ternary state conversion.Included in an inverter may be a power source. The inverter as shown inFIG. 20 may also be provided with means to configure a conversion frominput to output, so that with one type of inverter device any ternaryinverter may be configured and implemented.

Also provided as an aspect of the present invention is a signal source.A diagram is shown in FIG. 21. A source can generate one of 3 opticalsignals: red, blue or green. Lights of other colors and wavelengths arepossible and fully contemplated. Also combinations and mixtures ofcolors are possible. These combinations may provide attractive colorsfor demonstration purposes. One should be careful to create mixtures orcombinations that can be detected and sufficiently distinguished fromother combinations. For instance white light may represent a state ifindividual states of red, blue and green do not occur at the same time.A state may be represented by red light. A state may be represented bygreen light. A state may be represented by blue light. A state may berepresented by white light. A state may be represented by infraredlight. A state may be represented by ultraviolet light. A state may berepresented by any instance of radiation that is distinguishable fromanother instance of radiation, for instance in wavelength, or in chargeor in energy.

The source signal is outputted on at least one output 2101. More outputsmay be provided. Included in a source may be a power source. Further thesource is provided with a switch or selector that allows a user toselect a signal with a preferred state. The source may also be providedwith a circuit that allows the source to step through different states.Such a circuit may also be configured to enable a source repeatedly andautonomously. The circuit may also be configured to set the time that asource is active or active in a certain state. Setting the order ofsources being activated or enabled may also be a feature of the circuit.Herein the duration of a state may also be selected. A switch to switchon or off the source is also provided.

Also provided as an aspect of the present invention is a gate thatimplements a ternary switch which will connect an input with the outputwhen a control input is in one of three states and wherein the output isdisconnected from the input if the control input is not in the one ofthree states. This is shown in FIG. 22 with input 2201 and output 2203and control input 2202. It is again understood that conducting frominput to output means that the output assumes the state of the input. Inthis case the diagram of the switch has the symbol 1 underlined whichmeans that the switch is conducting for state 1, which is when thesignal on the control input is 1. The switch may be provided with apower source and a switch to switch the switch on or off. A switch maybe provided for each conducting situation for a control signal. This mayinclude a switch is non-conducting when the control input is 1 and allother possible combinations of conductance and input signals. The switchmay also be enabled to configure each conducting condition.

Also provided as an aspect of the present invention is a display thatdisplays a detected state. A diagram of such a display is shown in FIG.23. The display has as least one input. However it may be used with morethan one channel of which only one is active. Accordingly a display mayalso have more inputs. FIG. 23 shows three inputs: 2301, 2302 and 2303.The display detects the active state of the input and displays thatstate. This may for instance be done by activating one or more LEDs ofthe color representing the active state. The display may pass on thestate on an output 2304. In case more than 1 input is activated thedisplay may select one (for instance input 2301) as a preferred inputand display the state of that input. The display may be provided with apower source and a switch to switch on or off the display.

Also provided as an aspect of the present invention is a completecircuit realizing a ternary logic function as shown in diagram in FIG.24. The circuit has a control input 2401, an input 2402 and at least oneoutput 2403 for optical signals. The circuit implements a completeternary 2 input single output logic function. The circuit may comprise adisplay, it may also not comprise a display. The circuit of FIG. 24 mayinclude a power source and a switch to switch the circuit on or off. Asexplained before the circuit may require inverters and ternary switches.These may be pre-configured. They may also be configurable.

Further more a manual explaining the kit and/or multi-valued logic isprovided. Binary logic may also be explained. Examples to implement orexperiment with the kit having one or more of the components hereprovided may also be included. Packaging for the kit may also beprovided.

The kit is explained for ternary logic. A binary logic kit having statesrepresented by a color of an optical signal is also provided as anaspect of the present invention. For instance FIG. 25 shows an exampleof a implementing a binary logic function wherein for instance a 0 isred light and a 1 is blue light. In general binary logic in standardelectronic form does not work with inverters and binary gates asprovided here. This is because the state 0 is generally represented asabsence of signal, which requires the output of a circuit to benon-floating. The binary implementation as provided here uses 4different inverters [0 0], [0 1], [1 0] and [1 1]. With binary switchesthat may conduct from input output when a control input is in one of twostates and the binary inverters all 16 possible binary logic functionscan be realized in optical form.

For instance the binary NAND function is determined by the followingtruth table.

NAND 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0

Accordingly when 0 is a first color optical signal for instance red and1 is a second color optical signal for instance blue, then the NAND canbe implemented by a device as shown in diagram in FIG. 25 with twochannels. A first channel having an inverter [1 1] and the first channelbeing enabled by a binary switch when the control input of a firstswitch is in state 0; and a second channel having an inverter [1 0], thesecond channel being enabled when the control input of a second switchis in state 1.

Notwithstanding the ability to enable a state in an n-valued with n≧2circuit by enabling a channel with a switch applying a control input,any n-valued state can be realized by enabling a source generating asignal representing an n-valued state. Such enabling may involve makingconducting from input to output one or more switches each beingcontrolled by a control input. Accordingly a kit using that approach mayonly use sources, switches and connectors for realizing states and noinverters.

Also provided as an aspect of the present invention is a board forputting on or placing or holding elements of the kit. Such a board mayhave fixtures such as Velcro, magnets or other means to hold componentsof the kit on the board.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention a state may berepresented by red light. A state may also be represented by blue light.A state may also be represented by green light. A state may also berepresented by ultra-violet light. A state may also be represented byinfra-red light. A state may also be represented by any wavelength lightthat can be detected.

In one embodiment a kit may be used to demonstrate and show the signalflow of signals. Accordingly in such an embodiment all components arelarge enough to be viewed and to watch the flow of signals withoutspecial means. As such it may be used as a decorative piece.

In a second embodiment a kit may be used to demonstrate or test aviability of a logic circuit, perhaps as part of a larger circuit orproject. Circuits as implemented in such a kit may be simulated in acomputer program and showing the circuit and signal flow may not beimportant. In such a case a small size may be preferred. Such a kit mayhave its components designed and implemented as for instance standardblocks to be placed in a micro-electronic type of implementation andrealized in a very small integrated electro optical or optical circuitor any other type of circuit. Those embodiments and any variationthereof are fully contemplated.

As an illustrative example optical signals of different wavelengths areused as non-magnitude representation of logic states. It should be clearthat other phenomena can also be used and are fully contemplated,including using signals with different frequencies or using moleculessuch as proteins or RNA to represent a state.

One may implement input, control and output signals to a switch,inverter or any other component as being instances of a similarphenomenon. That is: all those signals may be for instance opticalsignals or signals represented by a material. As described before asignal has to be detected by a detector, or a signal has to begenerated. Accordingly a signal may be detected as one phenomenon andmay be generated as another phenomenon. For instance a signal may bedetected as an optical input signal in an inverter and generated as anelectrical signal on an output. Or it may be detected as a presence of amaterial on an input and provided as an electrical signal on an output.Any combination of phenomena is fully contemplated as an aspect of thepresent invention.

In general an explanation of binary logic circuits using binary on/offswitches is frowned upon because it is not how an electronic circuit maybe implemented. However in the context of n-valued logic such anexplanation is desirable because it makes understanding n-valuedimplementations easier.

While the illustrative example is provided for binary and ternary logic,a kit and its components may be provided in any value of n≧2 which isfully and expressly contemplated.

Combinational binary and n-valued circuits can be created using switchesand inverters. Herein an input is not dependent from an output. Thisallows creating any binary and n-valued switching function. Accordinglyone can create any composite computing device using combinationalcircuits. However to store information one needs memory devices such aslatches, which are sequential devices. The inventor has disclosed binaryand n-valued logic based information retaining devices in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/448,404 filed Jun. 7, 2006 and in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/139,835 filed on May 27, 2005 which are bothincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

It has been shown how binary and n-valued functions can be created usingindependent instances of a phenomenon. One can use these functions tocreate information retaining devices. One example is shown in diagram inFIG. 26 using two devices 2601 and 2602 with feedback, each deviceimplementing an n-valued logic function. FIG. 27 shows a single device2701 implementing an n-valued function with feedback. FIG. 28 shows twon-valued inverters 2802 and 2803 with feedback. Inverter 2803 is enabledwhen in this example the control input of switch 2804 is not in state 0.In that case switch 2801 is disabled and no output signal is provided onthe output of switch 2801. Inverters 2802 and 2803 combined createidentity and the appropriate signal goes round and round until thecontrol signal becomes 0. An additional inverter 2803 is provided at theoutput to make sure one gets an un-inverted state. Other combinations ofinverters with feedback are possible and are fully contemplated. Thecited patent application Ser. No. 11/448,404 provides appropriaten-valued functions and inverters for realizing sequential circuits suchas memory circuits.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a circuit isprovided that provides a pulse or a train of pulses at regular intervalsthat can serve as a clock signal. Such a clock signal can be used toenable and disable circuits at regular intervals. It can also be used toenable or disable gates to let pass signals or stop signals frompassing.

Accordingly one can create sequential and combinatorial n-valuedcircuits. To one of ordinary skill in the art it should be clear thatone can create an n-valued memory for storing data and instructions andone can create a CPU for executing instructions and process data. Inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention computing devices areprovided using a switch and/or inverter as disclosed herein. Computerdevices in accordance with a further aspect of the present inventioninclude a computer, a control circuit, a calculator, a coder, audio andvideo recording and playing circuits, a communication circuit or anydigital circuit that requires processing data and executinginstructions.

In summary: An n-valued switch with n≧2 is provided with an input, anoutput and a control input. If the control input is in a certain statethen an output signal is generated at the output. Signals at input,control input and output may be instances of different physicalphenomena; however they can be instances of the same physicalphenomenon. An instance of a phenomenon represents a logic state.Inverters are also provided. An inverter has an input and an output. Asignal on the input may be of a different phenomenon than a signal onthe output; however they also may be instances of the same phenomenon.An inverter when it has a signal at an input will create a state whichmay be represented by a signal or by absence of signal at the output. Akit using an n-valued switch is also provided. A computer device whichincludes an n-valued switch is also provided.

An independent instance of a characteristic of a physical phenomenon inthe context of a switch or an inverter means that combining in one inputa first and a second independent instance of the characteristic of thephysical phenomenon will not create a third instance of thecharacteristic of the physical phenomenon at that input. For instance inan apparatus red light added to blue light at an input will not generatelight with a third wavelength at that input and accordingly each signal(red and blue light) is an independent instance (red and blue) of acharacteristic (wavelength) of a physical phenomenon (light). Howeverlight of wavelength λ1 with an intensity A coherent with light also ofwavelength λ1 with intensity B both inputted on the same input may causea signal of intensity A+B to be detected.

In general inputs of an apparatus may receive signals from a similarphysical phenomenon (such as light, or an electrical signal). Inaccordance with a further aspect of the present invention such alimitation is not required and each input may receive a signal from adifferent phenomenon or they may be identical phenomena. For instance afirst and a second input may both be enabled to receive and detect andoptical signal. However the first input may also be able to receive anelectrical signal and the second input may be enabled to receive anoptical signal. An output may for instance be enabled to provide asignal of a third phenomenon, for instance a material. The output mayfor instance also be enabled to provide an optical signal or anelectrical signal. Accordingly inputs and outputs may be associated withidentical phenomena with a characteristic with independent instances.They may also be associated with different phenomena.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention one mayalso apply magnitude based and non-magnitude based instances of one ormore phenomena to implement an n-state switch or an n-state inverter.For instance one may assign a magnitude based instance of a phenomenonto one or more inputs and/or outputs, while keeping the remainingterminals (which may include inputs and/or outputs) assigned to anon-magnitude based instance of a phenomenon.

While there have been shown, described and pointed out fundamental novelfeatures of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments thereof,it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions andchanges in the form and details of the device illustrated and in itsoperation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to belimited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

The following patent applications, including the specifications, claimsand drawings, are hereby incorporated by reference herein, as if theywere fully set forth herein: (1) U.S. Non-Provisional patent applicationSer. No. 10/935,960, filed on Sep. 8, 2004, entitled TERNARY ANDMULTI-VALUE DIGITAL SCRAMBLERS, DESCRAMBLERS AND SEQUENCE GENERATORS;(2) U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 10/936,181, filedSep. 8, 2004, entitled TERNARY AND HIGHER MULTI-VALUESCRAMBLERS/DESCRAMBLERS; (3) U.S. Non-Provisional patent applicationSer. No. 10/912,954, filed Aug. 6, 2004, entitled TERNARY AND HIGHERMULTI-VALUE SCRAMBLERS/DESCRAMBLERS; (4) U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 11/042,645, filed Jan. 25, 2005, entitledMULTI-VALUED SCRAMBLING AND DESCRAMBLING OF DIGITAL DATA ON OPTICALDISKS AND OTHER STORAGE MEDIA; (5) U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 11/000,218, filed Nov. 30, 2004, entitled SINGLEAND COMPOSITE BINARY AND MULTI-VALUED LOGIC FUNCTIONS FROM GATES ANDINVERTERS; (6) U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.11/065,836 filed Feb. 25, 2005, entitled GENERATION AND DETECTION OFNON-BINARY DIGITAL SEQUENCES; (7) U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 11/139,835 filed May 27, 2005, entitledMULTI-VALUED DIGITAL INFORMATION RETAINING ELEMENTS AND MEMORY DEVICES.

1. An n-state switch with n>3, comprising: a first input enabled toreceive a first signal representing a first of n states, the firstsignal being an independent instance of a characteristic of a firstphysical phenomenon; a second input enabled to receive a second signalrepresenting a second of n states, the second signal being anindependent instance of a characteristic of a second physicalphenomenon; and an output enabled to provide a signal representing oneof n states whenever the first input receives the first signal and thesecond input receives the second signal.
 2. The n-state switch asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising: the output not providing asignal whenever the second input does not receive a signal thatrepresents one of n states.
 3. The n-state switch as claimed in claim 1,wherein an absence of signal represents a state.
 4. The n-state switchas claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and the second signal are anindependent instance of the characteristic of the same physicalphenomenon.
 5. The n-state switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein theoutput provides a signal representing the state of the first signalwhenever the second input receives the second signal.
 6. The n-stateswitch as claimed in claim 1, fUrther comprising: an additional inputenabled to receive a third signal representing a third of n states, thethird signal being an independent instance of a characteristic of aphysical phenomenon; and the output being enabled to provide an outputsignal representing one of n states whenever the first input receivesthe first signal, the second input receives the second signal, and theadditional input receives the third signal.
 7. The n-state switch asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the n-state switch is connected to ann-state inverter having an input and an output.
 8. The n-state switch asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the n-state switch includes a detector todetect the first signal and a generator for generating the signal on theoutput.
 9. The n-state switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein the switchis part of a device which implements an n-state logic function.
 10. Then-state switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein a state is represented bya wavelength of an electro-magnetic radiation.
 11. The n-state switch asclaimed in claim 1, wherein a state is represented by a presence of amaterial.
 12. The n-state switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein a stateis represented by a material from a group consisting of a cell, a virus,an antibody, a chemical, a protein, a peptide, a nucleic acid, anoligosaccharides, a nucleotide, a metabolite, an ion, a carbohydrate, apolysaccharide, a hormone, an antigen, an enzyme, an RNA or a DNAmolecule.
 13. The n-state switch as claimed in claim 1, wherein then-state switch is part of a computing device.
 14. A kit for implementingan n-state logic device with n>3, comprising a switch, the switchincluding: a first input enabled to receive a first signal having one ofn states, a state being represented by an independent instance of acharacteristic of a first physical phenomenon; a second input enabled toreceive a second signal having one of n states, a state beingrepresented by an independent instance of a characteristic of a secondphysical phenomenon; an output enabled to provide a signal representingone of n states whenever the first input receives the first signal andthe second input receives the second signal; and a state conductor withan input and an output, wherein a state of a signal on the output of thestate conductor is identical to a state of a signal on the input of thestate conductor.
 15. The kit as claimed in claim 14, further comprisinga source for generating a signal representing one of n states.
 16. Thekit as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first and the second signal areoptical signals.
 17. The kit as claimed in claim 14, further comprisingan inverter with an input and an output, including a detector fordetecting a first signal on the input and a generator for generating asecond signal on the output.
 18. The kit as claimed in claim 14, whereinthe kit implements an n-state logic function.
 19. An n-state switch withn≧2 comprising: a first input enabled to receive a first signal being anindependent instance of a characteristic of a first physical phenomenonand representing one of n states; a second input enabled to receive asecond signal, the second signal being an independent instance of acharacteristic of a second physical phenomenon and representing one of nstates; and an output enabled to provide a signal representing one of nstates whenever the first input receives the first signal and the secondinput receives the second signal, and wherein a linear combination ofthe first and the second signal will create a signal that will beprocessed by the switch as representing the first state or the secondstate or the first and the second state.
 20. The n-state switch asclaimed in claim 19, wherein an independent instance of a physicalphenomenon is a wavelength of light.